Pop punk indie band Heart & Soul Radio is getting serious recognition for their single Ain’t No Life Like The Low Life. The music video for the single, which pays homage to the Beastie Boys Sabotage music video, is also a hit with fans. When I had the opportunity to interview with two of the three band members, Brian Johannsen and Schuyler Ankele, I asked them to tell me more about their hit song and video. Brian smiled and filled me in: “Shooting this video was a blast. Schuyler and I used to train together in kickboxing. We put a story behind the song, which was really fun. We had lots of accidental hits and kicks to the face. Turns out, fake fighting is a lot harder than it seems.” Schuyler laughed when he explained: “I was being attacked in the video, so Brian took the brunt of all the misplaced shots. I accidently socked him in the nose pretty hard at least 2-3 times.” Brian added: “I karate-chopped Schuyler right in the teeth. It was awesome, a fun shoot.” I also really like their single Thieves in the Night. When I asked for the back story behind that song, I learned it relates directly to how Heart & Soul Radio feels about their local Denver music scene. Schuyler filled me in: “We’ve had a lot of pressure from our local connections, who suggest how we need to do things. We talked to a big manager in town, and we walked away from that meeting feeling frustrated and convinced that they did not know what they were talking about. We continue doing things our own way. We were about half way finished writing the album, and we decided to write Thieves in the Night. The song is basically our answer to everyone’s suggestion about what we should be doing and how we need to direct our career. Something that’s really common in Denver is that people feel unless you’re playing with other bands that think they’re big, you’re not big. For us, it’s laughable, because we’ve toured the country multiple times.” So, besides the Beastie Boys, who are Heart & Soul Radio’s major music influences? Brian told me: “I think some of the biggest ones are 90s rock bands, like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. We like guitar-bass-drums, that’s a huge thing for us. More modern bands like Foo Fighters are huge too.” Schuyler told us about an awesome turn of events with one of their favorite bands Ruth Ruth: “Brian reached out to their singer Chris Kennedy and relayed to him how we are big fans. Brian sent Chris some songs and he was very receptive. He thanked us for the three songs and complimented some of them. To us, that was a huge milestone.” Heart & Soul Radio was formed from the ashes of former Denver bands Amino and DORK. I asked how the Brian and Schuyler came together with drummer Jimmy Blair. Brian gave me the scoop: “DORK started in early 2000. They got pretty big pretty fast. They got a Warped Tour. I just finished my master’s degree in Sound Engineering, and I became a producer. I went to find the biggest band in Denver, and in my opinion, that was DORK. I asked them if I could record their album and they said, ‘No.’ They ended up coming back a few months later and said, ‘Let’s do it.’ We spent six months recording that album, and in the end, they asked me to join. We went on Warped Tour for two more years. After a few personnel changes, we went from being a five-person band to a three-person band. We’ve been around as Heart & Soul Radio since 2009.” Schuyler was in the band Amino. He was also the lead guitarist in DORK: “Brian being hired replaced me as the lead guitarist. I became one...